Could Mortgage Interest Rates Be On The Decline?
Both Pending and Closed sales have continued to decline both nationally and here in the Eugene Springfield area. We are now in 2024 and what will the national and local housing market be like this year? There is some light coming through this tough Real Estate market as we have watched mortgage interest rates decline slightly. The forecast is that rates will continue to decline over the next several months. If rates do decline, then look for both pending and closed home sales to do an about-face and begin to bounce back. The rate and amount of any recovery here will depend upon the extent of the mortgage rate reductions. I will keep you updated as we move forward. The following is a short article from "Realtor.com". The numbers: Pending home sales were flat in November compared with the previous month, according to the monthly index released Thursday by the National Association of Realtors (NAR). The Pending Home Sales Index remained at 71.6 in November from the prior month. Economists were expecting the index to rise 1% in November, according to a survey by the Wall Street Journal. Year-on-year, pending home sales are down 5.2%. Key details: Sales were up in the Northeast, Midwest and West in November but dropped in the South. Big picture: Pending home sales tend to lead existing home sales by a month or two. They have been on a downward trend this year. With mortgage rates having declined over the past two months, economists see a modest rebound in home sales ahead. This could cause housing inflation to remain elevated, complicating the Fed’s job to get inflation down to 2%, said Torsten Slock, chief economist at Apollo Global Management. What the NAR said: “Although declining mortgage rates did not induce more homebuyers to submit formal contracts in November, it has sparked a surge in interest, as evidenced by a higher number of lockbox openings,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, in a statement along with the data. Have An Awesome Week! Stay Healthy! Stay Safe! Remain Positive! Trust in God!
Sincerely, Galand
 Galand Haas, Keller Williams Realty Eugene and Springfield
2645 Suzanne Way Suite 2A, Eugene OR 97408 Direct: (541) 349-2620  Visit http://www.eugeneareahomesearch.com Popular posts from this blogHow Mortgage Interest Rates Effect Home Sales
Does a change in mortgage interest rates have an effect on home sales? You bet it does! Inflation in home prices over the past several years has made home ownership an impossibility for many would be home buyers. The high cost of homes was compensated for over the past years by record breaking low mortgage interest rates. When rates began to rise but home prices remained steady and even increased, the ability to purchase a home for many faded away. Even though mortgage rates are higher than they were even a year ago, they have dropped from their peak in the Fall of 2023. Even a 1% rate decrease has spurred interest and made home payments more affordable. The question we have is whether rates will decline further, hold steady, or maybe even rise again. The answer here depends on what happens with our national economy. Mortgage rates need to decline further to heat up our economy again, but this could bring back high inflation rates. Higher inflation rates could put the brakes on any...
A Sluggish Housing Market Remains
Overall, home sales in Lane County were off in December of 2023. A sluggish housing market remained in place, even with slightly lower mortgage interest rates. We saw a short spurt of activity in early December fade as we approached the Holidays. What will 2024 bring? There is a potential for a much improved housing market in Lane County if mortgage interest rates decline further and the Fed remains steady or even drops rates. This is an unknown presently and only time will tell. The overall economy needs to improve as well and inflation numbers need to decline. Without all of these pieces falling in place, don’t look for any substantial changes in our local housing market. The following is a look at home sales in Lane County for December 2023. New Listings New listings (177) increased 1.1% from the 175 listed in December 2022, and decreased 4...
Home Inventory Is Creeping Up
The January 2024 Real Estate market in the Eugene and Springfield area improved some over December 2023 but decreased from January 2023. All categories were off from one year ago. The only real positive news is that the inventory of homes for sale is creeping up. Interest rates took a dip for a short period of time in December and January, but have inched back up as of late. The outlook for an improved housing market right now hinges on mortgage interest rates declining again and an improvement in our nation's economy. A bright spot right now is that, with the improved housing inventory, we are having a much easier time finding homes for our clients. We are also finding many sellers who are more motivated and willing to pitch in with paying buyers closing costs, etc. This is something that we have not seen happen in years. There is always a bright spot if you look for it. The following are the home sales numbers for Lane County for the month of January 2024. New Listings New ...
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